''The Air Circus'' is a 1928 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Howard Hawks and starring Arthur Lake, Sue Carol, David Rollins, and

Louise Dresser Louise Dresser (born Louise Josephine Kerlin; October 5, 1878 – April 24, 1965) was an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the many films in which she played the wife of Will Rogers, including '' State Fair'' and ...

. It is the first of Hawks's aviation films. The film is notable as the first aviation oriented film with dialogue.

Plot

Two young men, "Speed" Doolittle ( Arthur Lake) and Buddy Blake ( David Rollins) go out west to become pilots. The pair encounter an accomplished aviator ( Sue Carol) in flight school at a local airport. Once at the school, the boys set about learning to fly. On his first solo flight, however, Buddy has a sudden attack of fear and almost kills himself and his instructor. Buddy despairs of becoming an aviator, and his mother (

) comes to comfort him. Sue and Speed take off in an aircraft with defective landing gear, and Buddy, overcoming his fear, flies to their assistance. He prevents Speed from landing until he and Sue have fixed the defective part.

Cast

* Arthur Lake as "Speed" Doolittle * Sue Carol as Sue Manning * David Rollins as Buddy Blake *

as Mrs. Blake *

Heinie Conklin Heinie Conklin (born Charles John Conklin; July 16, 1880July 30, 1959) was an American actor and comedian whose career began in the silent film era. Early years Conklin was born Charles John Conklin on July 16, 1880, in San Francisco, Califo ...

as Jerry McSwiggin *

Charles Delaney Charles Delaney (August 9, 1892 – August 31, 1959) was an American actor. Biography Delaney was born in New York City in 1892. He was originally a motor mechanic and having learned to fly during World War I, he started doing flying vaud ...

as Charles Manning * Earl Robinson as Lt. Blake *

Virginia Cherrill Virginia Cherrill (April 12, 1908 – November 14, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the blind flower girl in Charlie Chaplin's ''City Lights'' (1931). Early life Virginia Cherrill was born on a farm in rural Carthag ...

as Extra (uncredited)

Production

''The Air Circus'' is Hawks' seventh feature, and the first with sound dialog. The film was completely finished as a silent when the studio commissioned dialog from screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert and assigned

Lewis Seiler Lewis Seiler (September 30, 1890 – January 8, 1964) was an American film director. He directed more than 80 films between 1923 and 1958. Seiler was born in New York City and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography *''A Bankru ...

to insert 15 minutes of talking footage, which Hawks considered "mawkish". Principal photography took place from April to June 1928 at Clover Field, Santa Monica, California. Stunt pilot Dick Grace did most of the flying with

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. History The company initially built a series of sporting and tr ...

and

Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

biplanes featured. The Air Circus 1928

Reception

''The Air Circus'' received generally positive reviews from critics.

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "a jolly, wholesome and refreshingly human picture", praising David Rollins' acting as "wonderfully natural." The '' Film Daily'' said the film was well-acted with "a bang-up youth cast from all angles" and a "thrill finish." Oliver Claxton of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote that the talking sequence was "the most unfortunate scene", but that the rest of the film "should amuse you in a quiet way." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' was more modest in its praise, writing, "Expert direction has managed to make a fairly interesting lightweight number out of a script that holds nothing but background and a plot that doesn't exist."

Preservation status

Various sources classify it as

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

."Review: 'The Air Circus'."
''silentera.com''. Retrieved: March 20, 2017. However, Hal Erickson states the silent version "was rescued from oblivion in the early 1970s".

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2016. . * McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood''. New York: Grove Press, 2000. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

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lobby poster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Circus 1928 films American silent feature films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films directed by Howard Hawks Transitional sound drama films 1928 drama films American women aviators Fox Film films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films